Dynaudio Special Forty vs. Contour 20

@mobilesax I think I've reached the end of the road with the Merlins. I'm sure the Black Magic upgrade is great, but I'm looking to make a more fundamental change. In particular, I'm looking for something more SS-amp friendly. While the TSM's have gotten more and more accommodating of SS with each successive upgrade, they really need tubes to reach the next level and that's a nonstarter for me.

@nitewulf : like the Merlins, maybe the C20's need tubes to loosen up (the Stereophile review also alluded to this). That said, there was something about the driver integration that bugged me. I actually thought the Forty had a smoother-sounding crossover than the C20. 

@mattmiller : that sounds about right, based on my quick listen they could definitely benefit from a powerful, lean SS amp that can exert a lot of control over the woofer. (Maybe Bryston?) That said, I don't see how you get around the apparent resonance/coloration in the upper bass, regardless of amp. It really sounds mechanically underdamped to me. I don't doubt you can massage that with some tweaking but I'm not sure you can completely overcome that sort of tuning issue. 

@james_w514: sounds like you go through a lot of speakers. :) I haven't heard ATC, I should get around to that. What are you using now? How did you like the Audiovector?

@james_w514 thanks for the input. Interesting, I thought the Audiovector SR1 (in Avantgarde Aretté form) had very good bass - not thunderous by any means, but very "true" in that you mostly don't notice it, but it really hits you with speed and trueness of tone when called for. I thought piano and cello sounded great, though pop/rock sounded light. I'm coming from very lean Merlin TSM's so my bar for bass is probably low. I agree that in terms of raw speed and resolution, they are really tops, better than the majority of megabuck stuff I've heard at shows.

I will seek out an ATC dealer and if they seem like they might float my boat, see if I can get them in-house... 

@james_w514 unrelated question, how do you find the Bryston Cubed amps? I'm considering requesting one for review, but not sure which one to try. I've heard that the 2.5 is the sweetest of the bunch but I'm tempted by more power...